


Warm

by BuddyTheMeanPeacock



Series: To Go to Sleep [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, M/M, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Sharing a Bed, Spoilers for Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), another alternative perspective story because i like them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-27 02:41:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21384736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuddyTheMeanPeacock/pseuds/BuddyTheMeanPeacock
Summary: A moment of clarity encourages Dimitri to try to sleep, the only way he found he could.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan
Series: To Go to Sleep [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1541641
Comments: 1
Kudos: 171





	Warm

"My son, why did you not kill her? She was within your reach. Why did you let her retreat?"

"Let her? Please, as if he could have stopped her, incompetent as he is. He's weak. We never should have trusted him with anything."

"No, no! I _will_ kill her, I swear it!"

"Dear boy, if you could not then, how can we possibly believe that you ever will?"

"We can't. He'd rather us suffer than make himself useful."

"_No!_ No, please don't say that Glenn, I beg of you! I-I-"

Dimitri turned and ran out of the cathedral. Air. He needed air, he was suffocating, he-

"Please, my son. The flames, they burn _so much_-" so hot, he thought he would join the ashes raining from the sky-

"I _died_ for you. What did I do to make you waste my life-" like so many, so many dead at his feet to save him-

"She _killed_ me, dear boy. I did nothing but love her and she murdered me-" murdered Glenn, murdered Father, everyone, _everyone_-

He looked up and saw- saw-

Stars.

He blinked. No... no smoke? Ashes, flames, hellish stench and deafening screams- where-

"I've always liked looking at the stars."

He turned. On the bridge- two caped young men, staring at the sky.

"Clears my head, ya know?" The shorter one faced the other. "Things can get busy up there."

The taller one nodded. "I can understand the feeling."

Dimitri blinked again, and they were gone. All of them. For a blissful moment it was quiet. He nearly buckled, catching himself on the guard rail. So long. Years filled with noises, visions, odors of death and dying, and this one moment there was nothing.

It will leave. His body will collapse from exhaustion and it will all come back in his dreams.

He shook his head. No, no, he needed this, longed for this quiet to last, but what, what could he-?

_"You know Your Princeliness, I heard that having someone next to you can help with getting to sleep."_

_"Truly?"_

_"Yeah, something about having someone near you calming down nerves. Dunno how true it is though. Probably some ol' tavern tale."_

_"Well, I see no reason to not try it out. Do you mind?"_

_"...What?"_

_"Coming to bed with me. Oh, but please don't feel as though you must."_

_"A-Ah no, I guess it's fine..."_

Yes... he remembers, from their days in the Academy. Sharing his bed with the smaller house leader and finally, _finally_ obtaining a night filled with the ever elusive sleep, dreams cured of their plague of wretched memories. Claude's presence drove off the dead eyes of his family from his slumber, and his absence had made them return with a vengeance only the dead could contain.

He was here now, however. He could do it again.

The long walk from the bridge to Claude's room took a toll on Dimitri, body heavy without his family's presence warding off the weariness that was brought with the endless restless nights. Reaching the bedroom he didn't bother with knocking, opening the door. He would wake Claude if he must, to gain the rest he so desired.

But that was unnecessary.

Dimitri's eye widened.

"Claude?"

Papers and books were scattered throughout the room, covering every surface available- even the bed was not safe, its sheets lost under countless books. But it was not such that caught Dimitri by surprise; it was the maps. Covering the walls were maps of Fodlan, each stabbed with countless pins, each in different areas. The room was... unsettling. There was an air of chaos that dug into the back of his skull, as though he was being watched from every angle conceivable.

In the middle of it all was Claude.

He walked to one of the maps, giving it an intense gaze, as though it would reveal its secrets if he stared hard enough. He ignored Dimitri completely, picking up a seemingly random book from one of the massive piles and opening to a specific page, as if he knew from memory what it held.

Dimitri narrowed his eye. "Claude," he said once more, louder. Claude will not brush him off so easily.

Claude looked at another map, close to Dimitri, still unanswering. A flash of shock ran through him. He turned to Claude- catching a better sight of what Claude was observing. This map had numerous arrows, circles, scrawled notes scribbled about, nearly making it worthless with its incomprehensibility, but Claude seemed to read it without issue.

Dimitri reached a hand to the man's shoulder, his blood racing. "_Claude_-"

He walked away, as though Dimitri had done nothing, to another of those accursed parchments that clung to the wall, gazed at the words made of mad scratches insensible to any that wasn't Claude.

It sent a chill down Dimitri's spine. It was not that he was being ignored. It was that he was not being registered in the first place. This room, the books, the maps, the papers; it was a labyrinth, trapping Claude's mind and shutting out all who did not follow him into the maze. He was in too deep, too lost within to be able to do anything but go deeper.

Dimitri walked over to him, took him by the shoulders and shook him, shouting his name, his heart pounding.

Claude let out a yelp of fear and finally looked at- _saw_ Dimitri. He looked shocked, stealing a glance at the window before landing his eyes back on him.

"Phew, you snuck up on me!" 

The words make Dimitri tighten his hold on Claude. He wasn't a speck in Claude's senses; his callings fell on ears deaf to everything but the turning of pages. Dimitri shook his head. "I have been in here for some time," he tried to explain. "I called out your name again and again. I stood by your side and called again, and you did not respond, you- you had just kept-"

His eye flitted about the room, taking in the books splayed open about the room, the reports littering the floor and desks and bedtop, walls covered by maps- maps which all shared similar markings, he realizes. How much time has Claude spent devising such strategies? To drown his senses in them, to blot out all but the most direct of distractions?

Claude chuckled. Dimitri snapped his attention back to him. "Suuure, Your Princeliness." He put on an insufferable wink. "Still too honorable to admit to something as naughty as sneaking up on someone? You really are somethin' else."

He jokes, as though nothing were the matter, disregarding his state as normal. Dimitri didn't bother to stop the glare that took over his face, despite the fear it caused the other man. "I speak of no fabrications, Claude. You moved and acted as though I were not here with you."

Claude rose an eyebrow. He still didn't believe him. Instead of saying so he wiggled in his grasp. "Hey, uh, mind letting me go? Kinda busy with this," and he tossed his head back to the maps he was taken from... and then his eyes roamed to another, focusing on it. 

"Claude, you will pay attention to me!" But the shout did nothing to take Claude's gaze away from the wall. He called again and nothing- not even a flinch.

He shook him again. Claude reacted, looking at him as though he had forgotten he was there. He sighed. "What are you even doing here..."

Before he even finished the sentence Dimitri could tell he had already lost him, but... "I have been meaning to meet with you, but I could never find you."

A blatant lie; he didn't bother trying to hide what it was. But he knew Claude hated lies, would dig at the liar until he found what they were hiding. He would call him out, look at him with suspicion, _react_ with _anything_-

But he didn't. Claude turned his head away, yet another map catching his mind in its trap. Dimitri shook him again.

Nothing.

He sucked in a breath. He shook again, harder, and yet still there was nothing.

This room is hellish. It ensnared Claude's mind and held it firmly within its grasp, and Claude did nothing to fight it. He allowed his senses to be overtaken by strategy, endless notes and senseless maps.

_"Things get busy up there, ya know?"_

Was this what he saw as _busy_? To be lost in his own thoughts, circling around innumerable possibilities and coming across endless more? Was it simply being busy that caused his hand to scratch them down in nonsense, to surround himself in them?

Dimitri couldn't stand it. He took Claude by the wrist and dragged him out of the room.

"Gah!"

Claude let out a noise as Dimitri took him to the hallways, thank the Goddess. He called out his name in shock but Dimitri didn't pause, did not stop until they both stood in his room.

The difference nearly gave him whiplash, the walls, desks, the bed, the floor, all clear of the traps to Claude's mind. Dimitri turned to face him; Claude looked annoyed, eyes narrowed and brow furrowed, but he cared not for such. He was paying attention to him now, focused his gaze on only Dimitri. He can finally set out to do what he came to Claude for in the first place.

"Okay, care to tell me what that was fo-"

"I cannot sleep," Dimitri answered, cutting down Claude's question. "You will lie in bed with me, just as before."

He will not waste anymore time. He longed for rest, and knew Claude could provide it if he was clear in his intentions. 

Claude's mouth stumbled on a noise, seemingly shocked by Dimitri's blunt words. He recovered quickly, his face taking on a thoughtful expression, and then-

Dimitri's breath hitched. 

Claude smiled.

Wide and genuine, it crinkled the corners of his eyes and made them glimmer like the stars. Such a rare sight, back in their younger days, and it stopped Dimitri every time it showed itself. It was- it was-

Gone. Claude sighed, bringing Dimitri out of his thoughts as he moved to the bed. "Sure. Let's give it a shot."

And so they did, Dimitri laying an arm across Claude as they lie there. It was... too much, to bring Claude closer. It left an uncomfortable space between them, the only part of him touching Claude being an arm on his side. He felt tense, a chill creeping up his spine, the thought that this was pointless, his moment of clarity wasted in a useless attempt to gain comfort. What right did he have to such a thing, truly? After all he's done, it was only right to have the unending exhaustion fill his body with lead. He breathed deeply, in and out, his breath moving hairs on Claude's head. This was meaningless, a pathetic endeavor that would lead nowhere, and he- he would never find rest, never have that peaceful slumber, only the flames of tragedy, the ice of isolation-

He gasped, and flinched.

Warmth.

It graced his palm, ran up his arm and filled his being, ridding him of all else. He sighed, his body light as a feather; it was as though he'd been blessed by the Goddess herself. He closed his hand around the blessing, willing it to stay, stay with him. _This_, this was what he longed for. A blanket that protected him from the bitter cold, and not the inferno that engulfed all that he loved. This link to humanity, to another being filled with the warmth of life.

"So warm..." he breathed, quiet; too loud and it would leave him, to fend off the heat and cold by himself. By the Goddess, it was so _warm. _So... _here_, here with him, with the living. _Filled_ with life, _here _with _him._

This... he was in the heavens.

His vision blurred and his eyelid felt heavy, but for once he felt no fear or apprehension, was not wary of the nightmares that haunted him. He would have peace tonight, after so long-

Dimitri's eye flung open.

It was gone. The warmth. It was _gone, _a bone-deep icyness taking its place on his hand, his arm, his body. 

Claude was moving under him. He was trying to leave, return to that hellish maze as if drawn to it, trying to leave him. Leave him to the dead. Leave him to the long familiar faces grasping at him once more, freezing him, _begging _him with their desires.

His heart was pounding, every beat reverberating throughout his chest. No, he can't leave, not now, no, _no_-

He pulled Claude close, wrapped his arm across his chest, shoved his face in his hair- _just like before, before he was a true monster, back when he had a shred of humanity._ The warmth returned, enveloping his body, but he can't rest, not with knowing Claude will go, leave him to be _alone._

"Don't leave me," he pleads. He has felt the touch of the heavens and he could not make the night without it, _will_ not make the night without it. _They_ were here, with them in the room, their whispers quiet, but that- that would change if he were alone, and he knew it. He can't make it, not when he finally felt peace. Not when Claude's earthy scent, his presence, his _warmth_ had been so close to bringing noiseless sleep to him, after so long having the words of those he's killed and let die follow him into hellish nightmares.

"H-Hey now," Claude stuttered. "C'mon Dimitri. I gotta get back to my room. Those plans won’t make themselves-"

No, no, no, he can't go back- he _won't_ go back. Dimitri shook his head desperately. "Please, Claude."

He felt his fist ball up a bundle of Claude's shirt. He missed this, missed this so dearly. Missed the anchor to reality, the warmth that drove off the dead, the softness of hair brushing against his face, how he fit so perfectly in his arms, he, he missed-

"I missed y-"

"Alright, alright! I'll stay. You're so clingy," Claude laughed, but his body betrayed him, the tautness and his beating heart giving away his frayed nerves... but he said he'd stay. Dimitri sighed, and he felt the lightness returning, the voices and faces retreating at the reassurance. He would sleep tonight.

But not before Claude.

He can't risk that he would leave. Dimitri let his mind drift between sleep and awareness, awaiting Claude's body to relax. 

A moment passes. 

Then another. 

And another.

Then Claude sank against him, a new flood of warmth engulfing Dimitri at the movement. He heard Claude sigh in utter contentment.

"Damn," he breathed out, "but isn't this a nice change."

Dimitri felt a hand grasp his own, interlocking their fingers between his. His breath hitched.

"Thank you, Dimitri," Claude said, voice slurred and only vaguely aware. "I... I really needed... needed..."

A streak of heat raced across Dimitri's chest, burning hotter at Claude actions and words. This... this feeling... it felt good. How long has it been since he's felt... _good_? Since he's felt as though he weren't weighed down by the graves of those who have passed? It left him nearly breathless, left him dumbfounded, and he wanted more. More of this lightness, this _contentment_, this _warmth_. 

In this moment, Dimitri was... happy. And he couldn't ask for anything greater.

He went to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> AKA Dimitri goes "fuck maps be my body pillow"
> 
> Not really sure how I feel about this one, but I already teased some folks on Discord about it do can't back out now lmaooo
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed (:


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